Helicent of Pentos
Helicent of Pentos is the Lady of Duskendale, wife of Lord Yohn Rykker, and widow of the late Lord Ryam Darkwood. By both men she has mothered seven children, and following Lord Rykker's retirement from lordly duties, is the regent of their eldest child, Lady Serala Rykker. Appearance Helicent is exceedingly tall for a woman, standing at 6’, and following multiple births has grown broad hips and a generous chest. She has thick, black hair, and blue-grey eyes, and remains unusually well-preserved and youthful in her age. Once considered a renowned beauty, Helicent now sports a permanent look of severity in sharp cheekbones and a piercing gaze, with only a touch of her former girlish looks remaining. Biography Helicent was born the daughter of two noble Pentoshi families, and as such, given an education befitting her position, with lessons in court life, arithmetic, singing, dancing, and playing the wood harp from her youth. Though she never took to these ladylike activities in particular, she immersed herself in the power of knowledge and information, finding courtly espionage to be more thrilling than anything singing or dancing could offer. When she was 15 years old, she met Lord Ryam Darkwood, lord of a small house of Duskendale, who fell deeply in love with the young beauty of Pentos. They eloped in the Pentoshi Hills, and by her new husband Helicent gave birth to her first children, twins named Elyas and Ellery. Returning with Ryam to his home in Duskendale, the Darkwood family were met with coldness from their liege Alan Rykker for their elopement. Ryam contracted an illness not long after returning home, and perished of a severe fever three months later. Posthumously, Lord Rykker stripped Ryam and his children of the Darkwood title lands, and rendered Helicent’s sons as illegitimate. She was taken into the protection of Lord Rykker’s heir, Yohn Rykker, who like numerous before him fell deeply in love with the widowed Lady Darkwood. During her time as a ward of House Rykker, Helicent kindled a friendship with the resident Maester named Hosteen, a cunning old man who taught Lady Darkwood what he could in the art of Alchemy in exchange for information. Their friendship has lasted to this day. Some months following her own husband’s passing, a mysterious fire set in the Duskendale Sept killed four dozen men and women, including Lord Rykker himself, and the Lady wife of Yohn Rykker. Though many accused Lady Helicent for the tragedy, the son of a slighted tenant turned himself in for the crime. The far-older Lord Yohn proposed marriage to Helicent Darkwood some months after his father and wife’s deaths, and eight months later, their first child Serala was born. She was followed by Barbrey, Emberlei, Alicent and Helene, and two baby boys who did not survive infancy. For the deaths of her sons, Helicent took to permanent mourning, and for many years was not seen in public at all. When she returned to court, she was rarely seen in any colour but black, and much of the beauty in her looks had turned to solemnity and severity. When the twins Elyas and Ellery reached age 12, their step-father assumed control of their education; Elyas was fostered in Rosby, and Ellery in his mother’s home across the Narrow Sea. Enraged by his decision, Helicent began a plan to slowly poison her husband. Rykker lost his mobility first, aches in his bones slowing down the once strong and tall Lord of Duskendale and restricting him to bed rest. After signing the regency to Helicent, Yohn lost his sight, and withdrew completely from court life. Dabbling in the arts of mortality drew Helicent to a new hobby and a new desire; through sabotage and manipulation, she was soon able to control what happened within Duskendale to her liking. In the years following her son’s departures across the lands and sea, Helicent took a role in Crownlands society by throwing small but lavish balls in Duskendale’s capital, Dun Fort by the sea. As opportunities for both her daughters’ advancement in society and the influence of House Rykker throughout the region, Helicent used the ruckus of the parties to tend to her newest hobbies in the dungeons of Dun Fort. Though it is only rumoured that Lady Rykker uses magic to maintain her youthful visage, it is fact that she uses the blood of virgins instead, but not yet public knowledge. Timeline * 336AC: Helicent of Pentos is born to Cairon Darctys and Bara Haratys * 351AC: During a trip to Pentos, Lord Ryam Darkwood meets and elopes with Helicent. She gives birth to their twin sons, healthy boys named Elyas and Ellery, nine months later. * 352AC, first moon: The new Lady Darkwood arrives in Duskendale with her husband and baby sons. * 352AC, third moon: Lord Ryam dies of a fever, leaving Helicent as his regent. As punishment for eloping without his lord’s permission, the Darkwood title lands are posthumously stripped from Ryam and the infant Elyas. Helicent and her children are made wards of Yohn Rykker, Heir of Duskendale. * 352AC, ninth moon: Lord Alan and Lady Lorelle Stokeworth, the wife of Lord Yohn, are killed in a suspicious fire in the Duskendale Sept. Lord Yohn returns the Darkwood titles to Elyas. * 352AC, tenth moon: Yohn Rykker and Helicent of Pentos marry. * 353AC, sixth moon: Serala Rykker is born. * 354AC: Barbrey Rykker is born. * 355AC: Helicent delivers a stillborn son. * 357AC: Emberlei Rykker is born. * 358AC: Alan Rykker is born sickly, and dies a month later following complications. * 361AC: Twins Alicent and Helene Rykker are born. Family Tree Helicent of Pentos, Lady of Duskendale (336AC) (34) * Her first husband, Lord Ryam Darkwood (330AC-352AC) ** His heir, Lord Elyas Darkwood (351AC) (19) ** His second son, Ser Ellery Darkwood (351AC) (19) * Her second husband, Lord Yohn Rykker (302AC) (68) ** His heiress presumptive, Lady Serala Rykker (353AC) (17) ** His second daughter, Lady Barbrey Rykker (354AC) (16) ** His first son, an unnamed stillborn child (355AC) ** His third daughter, Lady Emberlei Rykker (357AC) (13) ** His second son, a sickly child (358AC-359AC) ** His fourth daughter, Lady Alicent Rykker (361AC) (9) ** His fifth daughter, Lady Helene Rykker (361AC) (9) Category:Crownlander Category:Pentoshi Category:Essosi